Tiger Guards

Chapter 128 Sun Zi Comes to Submit
Northeast of Anyi City, at dawn.

The transport team consisting of the captured men and women of the Beiguo clan, the women of the Nan clan and the old thief Baibo set off.

There were no less than two thousand people being escorted. In order to avoid accidents, Zhao Ji added two Hedong knight centuries to Xiang Libao.

The old thief Bai Bo needs to undergo labor reform for a period of time, and the Beiguo and Nan families must be sent to other places.

If we stay in Anyi, all kinds of people who plead for us can get us on the side of Lao Zhao and Third Aunt.

First, they were all transported to the Hou family manor, where they underwent labor re-education.

Zhao Ji sent Xiang Libao away and continued to watch the team leaving.

This time, we did not take the highway on the west bank of the Sushui River, but took the road on the east bank, which can directly reach the Hou family farm and ranch south of Zijin Mountain, saving the detour.

However, there are also disadvantages. The northern half of this road is not suitable for vehicles to transport supplies.

But humans have strong adaptability. Apart from being unable to fly, they can pass through many terrains while carrying a light load of three days' rations.

Zhao Ji reined in his horse and turned around. Today he was riding a majestic black horse that he had captured from Li Le. According to Li Le's personal soldier who was feeding the horse, the horse was called Yuelihei.

Yue Lihei had a bad temper and was agitated for a while after Li Le's death.

When Xiang Libao went south to transport gold and silk, he pulled Yue Lihei out and had a good run in the wild, which made Yue Lihei's temper become much more submissive.

I still feel a little resistant to Zhao Ji. Zhao Ji has so many troubles inside and outside now, and I really don't have the mood to slowly deal with him.

If it showed a little temper, Zhao Ji would punch it two or three times. Now it was carrying Zhao Ji obediently and turned around. Who knows if it was accumulating strength to resist and waiting for the right opportunity to make trouble.

Jia Tong also reined in his horse and turned around, asking Zhao Ji, "Minister, do you really want to swallow up all the Nan family's women?"

Last night, the coalition forces of the powerful were very fierce. Except for some powerful people who were lucky enough to save the children of their relatives and female relatives during the chaos, most of the boys of the Nan family were wiped out by the angry Beiguo family.

Even so, these powerful people still wanted to redeem their own women.

Zhao Ji turned to look at Jia Tong: "Brother Wenzhen, do you think this is inappropriate?"

"I know that the Minister wants to arrange concubines for the Huben to strengthen them. Whether Quwo replaces Yi or they start a new sect, having more concubines and children is always a good thing."

Jia Tong, a skilled horseman, sat languidly on the saddle, saying, "The Nan family's women are from various families in Anyi. If they marry into the Huben clan someday, they might harbor resentment for what happened today. It would be better to redeem them from their respective families, saving them the trouble in the future."

"Brother Wenzhen is thoughtful, but the Hou family is short of manpower to manufacture military uniforms. Let's wait and see how the situation changes in three months. No one knows what the situation will be like then."

Zhao Ji can only take things one step at a time. What long-term plan is there?
It is now impossible to control the Li-Guo coalition forces, let alone Zhang Yang. The only thing we can decide is when to send troops to attack the Huns, and this window of opportunity is also very short.

There is no certainty whether diplomatic means will work, as the Wei family treasury is too attractive.

Whether it is Li Guo or Zhang Yang, there are actually internal conflicts that need to be mediated.

Finding a war goal that interests everyone can effectively maintain internal stability.

Not to mention them, if you were in their shoes, even you would do the same.

Hedong had become a quagmire of war. Trapped in it and burdened by the imperial court, Zhao Ji felt very uncomfortable.

If you accept the good side of the court, you will not be able to block out the bad side.

While chatting with Jia Tong, he led a dozen Huben knights back to the Beiguo military camp.

Outside the military camp, Xu Huang was leading military officers to drive wooden stakes into a flat area to mark the boundaries for the powerful coalition forces that had gathered today to set up camp.

Xu Huang only supervised the work of the military officers and cultivated the experience of new and old military officers in setting up camps, measuring, and allocating resources.

He rode to meet Zhao Ji. Xu Huang asked, "Does the Minister want to incorporate the new troops into the Tiger Infantry Army or into the county troops?"

Wei Ji went to recruit the sons of powerful families from Jie, Yishi, and Puban, as well as their retainers and young and strong men from the countryside. This newly recruited army was the county army.

County Magistrate Wang Yi has resigned. Once the court appoints a new county magistrate today, the county soldiers will be influenced by the new county magistrate.

It was completely reasonable and legal for the county governor to mobilize the county soldiers and expel some of the military officers appointed by Zhao Ji.

Zhao Ji glanced at Xu Huang and saw that he looked as serious as ever. Since they had known each other, the only time Zhao Ji had given Xu Huang a hundred or so horses was when Xu Huang's face was filled with uncontrollable joy.

At other times, Xu Huang had a wooden expression on his face.

Zhao Ji looked at the various wooden stakes in the field. If they were organized into the Tiger Infantry Army, these sons of powerful families would naturally be promoted to Tiger Guards after accumulating meritorious service.

The eight hundred Hu Ben soldiers of Hedong was a quota set by Zhao Ji. When Hu Ben soldiers were killed in battle or injured and retired, they would be replaced by their sons and relatives. They would start as Hu Ben soldiers.

If a Tiger Guard is promoted, the vacancy will be filled by senior Tiger Infantry deputy officers.

Unable to discern Xu Huang's intention from his expression, Zhao Ji replied, "I do have some talent, so I'll be assigned to the Tiger Infantry. The camp will be built by tomorrow evening, and the squads will be reorganized. Be sure to appoint skilled soldiers as squad leaders. Within seven days, uniforms and flags will be issued, and within twelve days, armor and equipment will be provided."

Xu Huang's face remained expressionless as he simply inquired, "The Minister has instructed me to select the captains of the detachment?"

"Well, refer to the method I used at the Wei family manor to reorganize the Baibo recruits and clan bandits. Break them up and reorganize them, select the best and brightest to be squad leaders, and then have them vote to elect their deputy officers. They can still elect and select them now, but when we expand the Tiger Infantry Army in the future, we must use the veterans to guide the new ones and promote them based on their merits."

Zhao Ji then added, "The captains chosen by Gongming must pass my assessment before they are qualified. If they fail, Gongming will nominate another."

"Here!"

Xu Huang bowed. He knew exactly what Zhao Ji's assessment was. The sergeant was to stand thirty steps away, looking directly at Zhao Ji and accepting the arrow shot from him.

The squad leader was fifty steps, and the deputy officer had to lift a cake every seventy steps.

The test for the squad leader is courage, and for the deputy captain, in addition to courage, it also depends on Zhao Ben’s own attitude.

Shooting the cake from seventy steps away, I don't like you. If you miss occasionally, even if it is God's will, your deputy captain will naturally not pass.

Most people would feel a certain degree of cohesion after being shot by Zhao Ji like this.

Taking the risk of being shot to participate in the assessment is a cost and sincerity invested in the team.

Time was running out and Zhao Ji had no energy to screen talents among the lower-level soldiers.

The place is so small, if you have any talent or gift, you would have shown it to your fellow villagers long ago.

If a person cannot even be qualified and elected as a squad leader, even if he has talent, it is likely that his talent and gifts will be difficult to discover.

Such talent should be buried for the time being. There will be time for it to grow and emerge in the future anyway.

At the edge of the makeshift camp, Sun Zi approached, holding the silk book sent by Jia Kui, and said to the patrol leader, "I am Sun Zi, a native of Zhongdu, Taiyuan. I have been entrusted by Jia Liangdao of Xiangyi to come and pay a visit to Minister Zhao."

As he spoke, Sun Zi handed over the silk book.

Upon hearing this, the Tiger Guard dismounted and took the scroll. He opened it and read. He could not recognize Jia Kui's handwriting, so he said, "Wait here. I will inform the Minister of the Interior."

Sun Zi bowed again and said, "Thank you for your help."

Then he watched the Tiger Guards ride away, and the Tiger Infantry soldiers standing guard around watched and examined him.

The clothes of these Tiger Step soldiers were in a mess, but fortunately their armor had been initially unified. They all wore light double-crotch armor. Everyone carried a bow on his back, a ring-handled sword hanging on his left waist, a quiver on his right waist, and a spear or halberd in his hands.

The only neat sign was their green shawls. In each squad, there were two people who were not equipped with bows and arrows, but were carrying crossbows and shields.

After Sun Zi got closer and observed, he found that the Tiger Infantry soldiers of the two squads in front of him were not friendly with each other. Even when standing in a row, they stood closer to those they knew and farther away from those they didn't know.

The Tiger-Step soldiers were also looking at Sun Zi. He was wearing a short shirt made of coarse cloth. Under the faded brown and yellow linen was an old and dull silk shirt.

They were all wearing short shirts. Their pants were better, made of fine cloth, but there was a large patch on the left knee, which was clean.

As for the feet, they were wearing a pair of straw sandals without socks.

But even so, Sun Zi still had a sword hanging from his waist, but his belt was not leather, but a black cloth belt.

He didn't carry a backpack, otherwise he would be no different from a poor scholar going out to visit friends.

Of course, Sun Zi's face was also extremely thin, which showed that he had not eaten enough this winter, just like most people.

(End of this chapter)